In 2009, China became a net coal importer for the first time ever. China had posted net coal imports of 89.10 million mt for the January-November period of 2009, and only exported 2.07 million mt of coal in December, meaning that China became a net coal importer for the whole year of 2009.
During the year in question, China produced a total of 3 billion mt of coal, up 12 percent year on year. However, China exported only 22.40 million mt or $2.4 billion of coal in 2009, both less than half the corresponding figures for 2008.